Rental Vacancy Rates on the Rise

Now might be the opportune moment to find a new rental home; citywide vacancy rates drastically increased towards the tail end of 2018.

Apartment

Apartment and rental unit vacancy rates nearly doubled this past quarter, rising from 7.5 percent in the third to 14.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2018 (4Q2018), according to a report from the city planning division.

This means that of the 1,355 available units surveyed, 199 of them were reported vacant, resulting in the highest rental unit vacancies seen in Gillette last year.

The vacancy rate was reportedly 11.6 percent, which is still well below figures reported in recent years, but it remains higher than the rates reported in 2014.

In 2017, vacancy rates were reported to be 21.3 percent, with the highest rate of 23.4 percent reported in the first quarter.

Mobile and manufactured home parks suffered a slight loss last quarter as well, with 19.5 percent of all surveyed lots reported vacant, a marked increase from the 16.9 percent reported during the previous quarter.

Figures seen in 4Q2018 were the highest quarterly vacancy rates reported in the sector during 2018.

Of the 1,334 units surveyed, 260 units were reported vacant.

The average annual vacancy rate was 15.8 percent, a slight increase from the previous year’s 15.54 percent, but remains slightly below the highest rate of 16 percent reported in 2016.

However, the average annual vacancy rate is still higher than figures reported between 2013 and 2015, where the average annual vacancy rate between all three years was only 7.3 percent, with the lowest rate of 5.7 percent stemming from 2014.

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Ryan Lewallen is County 17’s government and crime reporter and a contributor to 82717 Life Magazine.
A U.S. Air Force Security Forces Veteran, Ryan is a Wyoming native who has been reporting for County 17 since 2017. Before that, he attended Gillette College in pursuit of a microbiology career and paid his dues in the oil fields of Campbell County.
Feel free to submit your news tips and story ideas to Ryan@County17.com or shoot him a text at (307) 689- 6622.